Chapter 10 – Postanesthesia Care Unit
Summary The postanesthesia care unit (PACU) or recovery unit is the place where patients go to after leaving the operating room (OR) and before being discharged home or to the…
Chapter 9 – Anesthesia Techniques: General Anesthesia Techniques in Clinical Practice
Summary Preoperatively, the patient will transition from different depths of anesthesia, including the levels of sedation, to general anesthesia (GA). Sedation is a continuum of symptoms that range from minimal…
Chapter 8 – Anesthesia Techniques: Mild, Moderate, and Deep Sedation in Clinical Practice
Summary Selection of the anesthetic technique to be employed during a procedure begins during the preoperative evaluation with consideration of factors such as the patient’s comorbidities and preferences and the…
Chapter 7 – Pharmacology of Local Anesthetics
Summary Cocaine, derived from the coca leaf indigenous to South America, was the first drug to be utilized as a topical local anesthetic by Dr. Carl Koller for glaucoma surgery…
Chapter 6 – Intravenous Anesthetics and Adjunctive Agents
Summary Intravenous (IV) anesthetics were first discovered for their clinical utility in 1656 by Sir Christopher Wren, an architect, physicist, and astronomer at the University of Oxford while using a…
Chapter 5 – Inhalational Anesthetics
Summary Inhalational anesthetics (IAs) are a group of medications utilized, almost exclusively, for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia during surgery. The demonstration of ether anesthesia in 1846 marked the…
Chapter 4 – Patient Monitoring
Summary Patient monitoring is fundamental to the job of the anesthesiologist. Anesthetic drugs and surgical procedures can produce rapid changes in patient physiology and these changes may last throughout the…
Chapter 3 – Anesthesia Equipment: Clinical Considerations
Summary The anesthesia workstation, commonly referred to as the “anesthesia machine,” is a complex and very specialized piece of equipment that is relatively unique in medical practice. It is, in…
Chapter 2 – Airway Management
Summary Airway management is a vital component of administering anesthesia, allowing for the exchange of gases between the patient and the surrounding atmosphere. Difficult or unsuccessful management of the airway…
Chapter 1 – Preoperative Evaluation and Coexisting Disease
Summary The preoperative evaluation is a review of a patient’s physical condition in preparation for surgery. The history and physical examination are the foundation of this assessment and focus on…
